William “Bill” Milton Powell, a longtime resident of Vacaville, California, and more recently Livermore, passed away peacefully at Sunol Creek Memory Care in Pleasanton, on Sept. 5, 2021.
Bill was born in Ventura, California, to parents Elton Cisley Powell and Electa Cox Powell. Bill grew up in Sanger, California, with his parents and five siblings, Arthur, Lowell, Louise, Harold and Richard, during the Great Depression.
In high school, Bill discovered sports and went on to star for the Sanger High Apaches in football, basketball and track. Bill was inducted into the inaugural Sanger High Athletic Hall of Fame for leading the 1944 Apache football team to an undefeated season and playing center (at only 6’ tall) for the 1944 to 1945 Apache basketball team. Bill also excelled as a leader off the field, serving as class president his senior year.
After graduating early, Bill joined his older brothers in the U.S. Navy, serving at the end of World War II on the destroyer USS Hart in the Pacific. Returning from military service, Bill entered the University of California at Berkeley in 1947, where he played on the “Ramblers” junior varsity team and studied English and physical education. As a young man, Bill was a devout Christian and, following his first year at Cal, he left to attend a seminary in southern California.
In 1950, he returned to Cal to continue his studies and, after some convincing by friends and coaches, he agreed to play football for head coach Lynn “Pappy” Waldorf. As a “Pappy’s Boy” from 1950 to 1952, Bill was a standout halfback, participating in the 1950 Rose Bowl and traveling to games across the mid-west and western United States, creating a thick scrapbook of newspaper clippings. To this day, he still holds the Cal record for the longest run from scrimmage, a 98-yard scamper against Oregon State in 1951.
After graduating from Cal in 1953, Bill did graduate work to obtain his teaching credentials. He then taught physical education, English and speech, as well as coached football and other sports for various San Francisco Eastbay area high schools. From 1964 to 1971, he taught and coached at Armijo High School in Fairfield, California, before spending the next three years as a legislative aide to California Assemblyman John Dunlap and also teaching speech at nearby Solano Community College.
In 1974, Bill joined the Vacaville Unified School District (VUSD) to teach classes for inmates at the California Medical Facility. Nine years later, in 1983, he moved to VUSD’s Adult School staff to teach English as a second language, as well as accounting. At the end of the 1990 school year, Bill retired to manage his own business, Golden Bear Marketing, involving video game entertainment.
In continuation of his lifelong dedication to education, Bill helped evaluate applications and award the Grace B. Powell Scholarship, which was in honor of his loving wife and given to Vacaville High School’s most deserving students with outstanding academic and community-service achievements. Additionally, he participated in many Grace B. Powell spelling bees as a judge and pronouncer encouraging Vacaville’s best spellers.
In his final years, Bill cherished spending time with his family and friends while keeping up with sports of all kinds, especially Cal football.
Bill was preceded in death by his wife, Grace Burton Powell; brothers, Arthur Powell, Lowell Powell, Harold Powell and Richard Powell; as well as sister, Louise Powell. He is survived by son, David Powell and wife Denise Powell; son, Brian Powell and wife Karen Powell; and grandchildren, Sarah, Cameron, Emily and Allison Powell and husband Liam Kelly.
